


We Provide Leverage: Origins

by writing_addict



Category: Leverage, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Action, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Cons, F/M, Grifter!Uraraka Ochako, Hacker!OC, Hitter Hacker Grifter Thief Mastermind, Hitter!Bakugou Katsuki, Let's Go Break The Law Just One More Time (a few more times), Leverage AU, Magnus Bane might show up in a cameo, Mastermind!Midoriya Izuku, Modern Robin Hoods (basically), Most of Class 1-A does not appear, Multi, Romance, Same with the clockwork triad, Theft, These five kids as the Leverage team, Thief!Todoroki Shouto, We provide leverage, but only in a cameo, gods i love this AU you do not understand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-05 16:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11017143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writing_addict/pseuds/writing_addict
Summary: Heroing doesn’t always work out. After reaching the top losing the two people he cares for most, Izuku is betrayed by his hero agency--and by the insurance company that refused to pay for his mother’s cancer treatment. Grief and pain turn the former No.1 hero into a wandering drunk and send him to the American city of Chicago.It is there that a businessman makes him an offer he can’t refuse.So no, heroing doesn’t always work out.Crime, however…well, let’s just say that it was never off the table.





	1. C.1

**Author's Note:**

> Hitter, hacker, grifter, thief, mastermind. How did the greatest team of criminal heroes form?

_Heroes._

The people he’d looked up to. The person he’d become. The dream he fulfilled.

_And the people who let my mother die._

A sad, bitter smile curled the lips of the green-haired man as he swirled the amber liquid in his cup. _The story of how I became the greatest hero ever…_ Hah, who was he kidding? The _greatest hero_ was now reduced to a drunk in a foreign hotel, another nameless, faceless person that wandered in and out of sight. If he told anyone that he was once the hero known as Deku, no one would believe him.

After all, Deku had vanished when Inko Midoriya died of cancer--- _was killed_ , his mind insisted; the insurance company that served his hero agency had automatically turned down his claim to the treatment that could’ve saved her, the treatment that was too expensive even for him to pay.

_Number One hero, and I still couldn’t save my mother’s life_.

His phone rang then, insistent and loud in the previously quiet morning. Izuku dug it out of his pocket, squinted at the caller ID, and sighed. _You again._ He clicked “Accept” and brought it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Behind you.”

He turned, glancing over his shoulder. A short man with curly dark hair waved nervously at him, hurrying over to sit next to him. Izuku sighed again, draining the liquid in his glass. “I told you, Dubenich, the job is a no go. I’m no thief, and I doubt Pierson is either.”

Victor Dubenich shook his head eagerly. “N-no, Mr. Midoriya, I don’t need you to steal.”

“You told me you would be stealing them back.” Glass-green eyes glared into dark brown ones. “And I am not a thief.”

The man grinned suddenly. “Thieves,” he said, “I got. What I need is one honest man to _watch them_.”

Interest piqued despite his better judgement, Izuku glanced sideways at him, signalling the bartender for a refill. “You found thieves?”

“One thief, two other criminals. The best of the best. Wanna see?” Dubenich slid a file towards him, and he opened it curiously.

He was met with some _very_ familiar faces.

Izuku’s eyes widened as he saw a familiar scar and heterochromatic eyes, with dual-colored hair to match. _Todoroki Shouto,_ the file read. _Ghost_ _Thief_. “No way,” he muttered under his breath. “Todoroki? _He’s_ the Ghost Thief?” He’d known that the son of Endeavor had gone off the books a half-year before he had, but the Ghost Thief had appeared three months after. _I should’ve put the pieces together._ He shook his head. _Ice to fool motion sensors, fire and smoke to trick the cameras should he get caught--but he never did. It’s perfect._

The next face was even more familiar, but slightly less shocking. _Bakugou Katsuki, Retrieval Specialist._ “Retrieval Specialist” was, of course, code for “hitter”--a job that took more finesse and discretion than he thought Kacchan (he couldn’t shake that damn nickname even after all of these years) had. Explodo-Kills had vanished as well, but he’d never imagined…

_I never thought that so many of us would fall._

The third face was one he didn’t know, but he recognized her. The surname was Japanese, the first name Irish, and the word _Hacker_ was next to her name. “Yakuta Quinn,” he read aloud, meeting Dubenich’s eyes. “You have Yakuta?”

“Is there someone better?”

“No--but she’s notoriously capricious. Do you honestly trust her?”

“Honestly, no--but that’s what you’re here for.”

Izuku’s fingers hovered over the files; part of him itched to do the job, to see his old classmates again. He’d run cons and thefts before while trying to retrieve stolen merch and take out villain nests, and the chase had become almost addicting. Dubenich, he knew, could sense this; it was the only reason the CEO of Bering Aerospace felt the need to ask the question: “Are you in?”

_Yes_ , he thought, but he choked on the words. Instead, he shook his head and spoke: “ It’s not going to work; these people you hired, they all have the same rep. They work alone, they always work alone. There’s no exceptions and there’s _no way_ they’re going to work for you.”

“They will,” the CEO said confidently. “No, they will, they will. For $300,000 each, they will, and for you, for running it, it’s double that. And it’s off the books, completely off the books. Look at me, I’m desperate here. And that’s just the salary, there is a bonus. Pierson is insured by I.Y.S., your old insurance company. It’s a 50 million dollar intellectual property rights policy. Mr. Midoriya, how badly do you want to screw the insurance company that let your mom die?”

_Oh, he’s in now._


	2. C.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things occur.

“You,” Bakugou said in disbelief. “They hired _you_.”

“Close your mouth or you’ll catch flies, Kacchan,” Izuku told him sharply. Any sentimentality had been killed by the promise of revenge. “This is a walkaway. You go back to your jobs and I go back to my life.”

“Don’t you fuckin’ talk to me like that, you useless fucking---”

“Life,” Todoroki cut in, staring at him intently. “You said life. Not job.”

“Yeah. Life.” He met his gaze unflinchingly. “Which is none of your business anymore.” A small smile tugged at his lips. “Good to see you again, but it’s one job only.”

There was a delicate cough, and the three of them turned to meet the brown eyes of an irritated, red-haired hacker. Gems, grown out of her skin from her light-crystallizing Quirk, glowed faintly in the gloom. “I hate to break up this reunion, but I’ve got $300,000 U.S. with my name on them that I’d like to receive, please.” She motioned at Pierson’s offices. “Shall we?”

There were mumbles of agreement, and Izuku turned on his heel, letting the three walk across the street as he made his way into an abandoned office building. He took the steps two at a time until he was level with the floor the stolen airplane designs were said to be one, smiling grimly as he opened up his laptop, displaying blueprints of the target building. He slipped on a headset, then spoke into it. “Alright, clear comms.”

Yakuta’s voice crackled in first. _“No. No, no, no;_ hell _no. This equipment is total VH1; it’s best of the eighties.”_ There was a chuckle. _I got somethin’ nicer.”_

“No surprises,” he warned her. He got an exasperated sigh in return.

“ _I’ve been doing this since high school, bro; I’m Captain Discipline.”_ There was momentary silence, and then a far clearer, less static-filled reply. _“This is a bone-conduction earpiece; it works off the vibrations in your jaw._ He could almost see the half-smile on her face as she said, _“You can hear everything.”_

 _“You’re not as useless as you look,”_ Bakugou said gruffly. _Less swearing than normal. Maybe he has the finesse to match his profession after all._

There was huff of irritation. “ _I don’t even know what you_ do _.”_

 _“Want me to show you, you fucking computer bitch?”_ there was the sound of small explosions and Izuku winced. _Or not._

“Calm down, both of you.”

_“Shut the fuck up---”_

_“Can I have one?”_ Todoroki’s voice interrupted.

 _“You can have the whole box,”_ grinned Yakuta.

 _“What are you gonna do when he finds out you live with your mom?”_ taunted the Explosion-Quirk user.

 _“Age of the geek, baby,”_ Yakuta drawled. _“We run the world.”_

_“You keep fuckin’ tellin’ yourself that.”_

There was a rustling noise, and then Todoroki spoke up. “ _Last time I used this rig,”_ he said, _“Paris, 2303.”_

Izuku stiffened, recalling a theft in the news that he’d followed that year. “You’re talking about the Caravaggio?” he said in disbelief. “You stole that?”

No answer. _I’ll take that as a yes._

 _“Is this thing safe?”_ the retrieval specialist demanded.

 _“Yeah, it’s completely safe, it’s just, you know, you might experience nausea, weakness in your right side--stroke. Strokiness,”_ Yakuta explained, presumably with a shrug.

_“You’re precisely why I work alone.”_

“Guys, listen up. We’re going in on my count, not a second sooner.” He hesitated, before adding: “Todoroki, no freelancing.” The Todoroki Shouto he knew wouldn’t have had a problem with that, but this was a different one, someone who had taken major steps backwards when it came to social interaction and major steps forward when it came to theft---something that, judging from the way he spoke about stealing the Caravaggio, was something the dual-Quirk wielder enjoyed.

 _“Relax, you fucking Deku, we know what we’re doing.”_ Izuku stiffened at the use of his hero name, but luckily, Yakuta didn’t react. Maybe she’d already figured it out, or maybe she knew the meaning of the word and figured that it was a plain insult. Either way, he was glad that she didn’t seem to care.

“And on the count of five…”

 _“Oh, he does not wanna be our pal,”_ Yakuta chuckled.

Izuku shook his head, a wry smile tugging at his lips. “We’re on the count. Five...four…three…”

 _“Half n’ Half Bastard’s gone,”_ Bakugou snarled out seconds later, but he’d already heard the whirring of the rig as Todoroki leapt from the building. Izuku stifled a curse, shaking his head as the other two started down the stairs.

A moment later, Todoroki cut in. _“Vibration detectors are on.”_

“No cutting, Todoroki, use the binary.” The green-haired mastermind quickly ran through the plan in his head once more, tracing the blueprints with his hand as he listened to Yakuta and Bakugou land on top of an elevator.

“ _Half n’ Half, anytime you wanna start this--whoa!”_

 _“The others are on their way down,”_ Todoroki informed him.

“Security?”

There was a trace of smugness in the voice of the ex-hero. _“They don’t see a thing.”_ There was a pause. _“Doors open.”_

“Alright, showtime, guys. Here we go.” Izuku pulled up a grainy security feed, running through everything as the hacker and hitter worked, bantering in muttered tones. _What the...that’s not good._ “You have any chatter on the security guys’ frequencies?”

_“No. Why?”_

“There are eight listed on the duty roster and only four at the guard post.”

There was skepticism in his once-friend’s voice. _“I can’t even tell how many guys are in the room; how can you tell who’s who?”_

A small grin crossed Izuku’s face. “Haircuts, Todoroki. Count the haircuts.”

 _“I would’ve missed that,”_ the dual-Quirk wielder muttered, sounding surprised.

“What was that?”

“ _Nothing!”_

The small smile on Izuku’s face turned sad. _Yeah, definitely giant steps backwards._

 _“Problem?”_ Bakugou interrupted.

“Ah…maybe. Run the cameras.”

There was a laugh from Yakuta. _“Ten digit password. I salute you, good sir.”_

 _“Got the security feeds,”_ Todoroki said after a moment. “ _They’re doing their walkthrough an hour early; why the f---”_

“Because it’s the playoffs,” Izuku realized, gazing at the camera feeds. “Game 5. They’re doing their rounds an hour early so they can watch the playoffs.” He scrolled through the few feeds he had access to, but they weren’t there. “Where are they?”

 _“Stairwell,”_ Todoroki warned.

“Alright, here’s what we’ve gotta do; we gotta squelch ‘em. Todoroki?”

 _“On it.”_ There was a clatter of keys. _“Comms are out.”_

“Kacchan, what I want you to do is clear the zone and use Yakuta as bait.”

_“Fuck yeah, I’ll do that.”_

“No explosions.”

_“You take the fuckin’ fun outta everything.”_

_“Bait?”_ Yakuta cut in, sounding angry. _“_ Bait _? What? Hold up. Wait a minute. I know you ain’t talking about me, I ain’t nobody’s bait.”_ She paused, whispering to her device. “ _Come on baby, work for me baby, come on, baby.”_

 _“Yakuta, they’re almost there,”_ the thief cut in.

Yakuta’s muttering halted, followed by an angry, _“Forget it.”_

Izuku watched through the feeds as she froze, raising her hands above her head as the guards aimed guns and Quirks at her. A second later, Bakugou walked out behind the guards.

 _Five seconds flat._ Five seconds, no explosions, and they were down, unconscious and unarmed. Izuku smiled grimly as his childhood friend emptied the gun with a grin and an explanation of:   _“That’s what I do.”_ The door clicked open behind them, and Yakuta went from looking impressed to smug, entering the room with a laugh. Bakugou followed, and both dropped out of sight. The green-haired man shook his head after a moment, touching the headset. “Guys, you gotta talk to me. I don’t know what’s going on.”

 _“It’s all good,_ ” Yakuta purred. _“I’m stripping the drives right now. Got all the designs, all the backups. We’re leavin’ this cupboard_ bare. _”_

 _“You give ‘em a virus?”_ the hitter asked.

The hacker laughed. _“Dude, gimme some credit. I gave ‘em more than one virus.”_

 _“Problem,”_ the thief snapped suddenly. _“Those guards you ganked? They reset all the alarms on the roof and all floors above us. We can’t go up.”_

It was funny, Izuku reflected as they started squabbling, how quickly camaraderie could fall apart. The grudging respect from before had vanished, replaced by an “every man for himself” mentality. _We really have fallen._

 _“I’m the one with the merchandise,”_ spat Yakuta as he tuned in again.

 _“Yeah, well I’m the one with an exit!”_ Todoroki shot back.

Izuku sighed. _“And I’m the one with a plan; now, I know you children don’t play well with others, but I need you to hold it together for exactly seven more minutes. We’re going to the burn scam.”_ The sardonic words had slipped out without him meaning them to, but surprisingly nobody complained. _Listening to people. That’s new on all of their parts._

 _“Going to Plan B?”_ Yakuta inquired.

“Technically, this would be Plan G,” Izuku corrected absently.

_“How many plans do we have? Is there, like, a Plan M?”_

Izuku couldn’t quite resist teasing the hacker a bit. _It’s only payback for all of her distracting commentary,_ he assured himself. “Yeah. Yakuta dies in Plan M.”

 _“I like Plan M,”_ Bakugou said cheerfully.

Izuku closed up the blueprints, hurrying down the stairs of the building and into his car, quickly pulling up in front of the building as the others hurried out, Yakuta with a fake burn on her face and legs. The hacker tossed her cane to Todoroki, who caught it and slipped into the backseat. He drove them as far from the building as possible before stopping the car near his hotel, burying his hands in his coat pockets as the four gathered in a strange circle. “Come on,” he urged as Yakuta typed away at a laptop. “It’s only taking you all night.”

“Sorry, I got a couple WiFi networks with some crappy bandwidth.” Her fingers danced over the keys again, and she grinned. “Got it. Designs are sent.”

“Alright,” Izuku sighed, a mixture of relief and regret sweeping through him as the adrenaline of the job left him. “The money will be in your accounts later today.”

“Anyone else notice how hard we rocked last night?” the red-haired hacker asked, closing her laptop with a glowing (literally; she’d illuminated her crystal-studded skin so that the crystals shone variously colors) smile.

“Yeah, well, one damn show only. No fuckin’ encores,” Bakugou growled.

“I already forgot your names,” Todoroki taunted, resulting in an eye-roll from Yakuta and a snarl from Bakugou. Still, the thought of being forgotten ripped something out of Izuku, especially considered what Yakuta said about them working well together. And she was right--despite their bickering, they had fit together seamlessly.

And this wasn’t supposed to feel as good as it did.

“Y’know,” Yakuta remarked, as if guessing his thoughts, “it was kinda cool being on the same side for once.”

 _It was, but it can’t be. Not anymore._ “No,” he said. “I am not a thief.”

“You are now,” Todoroki pointed out. “Come on, Midoriya. Didn’t you have a little fun playing the Black King instead of the White Knight?”

The four stared at each other for a moment longer, but they turned and walked away a second later--and Izuku couldn’t help but wish that they had--had what? Formed a band of thieves? Become the people they once hated? _Been there, done that._

With a grim smile, he returned to his hotel room, tired eyes closing as soon as he hit the mattress.


	3. C.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Double-crossed and dead---almost.

For the second time in as many days, Izuku was shocked out of a sleepy, self-deprecating reverie by the loud jangling of his phone. The green-haired ex-hero, who was lying spread-eagled on the bed, opened his eyes with a tired groan, fumbling for his device.  _ What the…  _ “‘Lo?” he greeted, rubbing at his eyes.

“You  **_screwed me!_ ** ” Dubenich roared. Izuku sat up, suddenly alert.

_ Did they...no. They couldn’t have, right? They wouldn’t have---unless it was Yakuta; it must’ve been, she’s the only one who could’ve done that. I know the others wouldn’t…  _

_ But then again, they’ve changed. We’ve all changed.  _  “I watched the designs go out,” he protested.

“I don’t know what you saw, but the designs never got to me,” snarled the CEO. 

Dread settled, cold and thick, in Izuku’s stomach.  _ They really have changed that much. They’re just ordinary criminals now---they’re good, but they’re thieves. Maybe not villains, but thieves all the same…and you can’t trust thieves.  _ “I told you that you couldn’t trust them---”

“It was not my job to trust anyone; that’s what you were here for!” He could practically see the spittle flying from the Bering Aerospace CEO’s mouth. “I am  _ freezing _ the payments, you hear me? I am freezing all payments!”

Izuku stifled a groan.  _ Bad move, Dubenich; you take money from a thief and they’ll rain hell on you. _ “Look, I’ll come over right now, we’ll straighten this out---”

“ No, no, no do  _ not _ come here. My company has an old aircraft facility outside the city and I will text you the address and you be there, _ in one hour!”  _ There was a beep, signifying that Dubenich had hung up. Izuku dropped his phone and massaged his head; he could already tell that today’s headache would be a killer.

\--

The aircraft facility was old, close to ruin and covered in at least an inch of dust. Izuku coughed slightly as he slid under the door, shivering in the chilly morning air. He ran his hands through his dark green hair, unintentionally making it look even messier than it already was. His heading pounding, he descended down a small staircase, sighing as two familiar voices started ringing in his ears. Izuku squinted at the two figures in the gloom, one of which was aiming a gun at the other.

“You mind telling me what happened to the designs?” Yakuta Quinn demanded, light flickering around her---a sign of rage, judging from how her light manipulation Quirk reacted to emotion.

“What the fuck makes you think  _ I _ know what happened?” snapped Bakugou Katsuki. “Fucking stupid of ya.”

“Look, forget you, man. You did it, when we were coming down from the elevator.” Light spiked and hardened into a protective armor around the hacker. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. I, someone with no fucking tech capabilities, managed to remote-hack your fucking encrypted drives and steal them. Fucking genius.” Explosions sparked in the hitter’s palms. “You, though, you had the damn drives the whole fucking time.”

“Hold up, I did my part! I transferred the files---”

“You better get that fucking gun outta my face---”

“What did you do?”

“---or else I’m gonna feed it to you.”

Izuku cleared his throat as he walked up to them, and the other two turned to face him. He watched as a spear of light-crystal formed in Yakuta’s hand, a familiar popping sound reaching his ears as a blast built up in Bakugou’s palms.

“Did you do it?” demanded Bakugou. “You’re the only bastard who’s ever played both sides.”

“We both know that’s not true,” he answered tiredly. “You seem pretty relaxed for a guy with a gun pointed at him, Kacchan.”

His former friend turned to glance at the hacker, scowling. “Safety’s on.”

“Like I’m gonna fall for that.”

“No, no, he’s actually right,” observed Izuku. “The safety is on.” He snatched it out of her hands as she started to scrutinize the weapon, wincing as her spear sliced his cheek. “You armed?” he asked Bakugou, already anticipating the shake of the other ex-hero’s head.

“I don’t like guns.”

That, of course, was when the click of a gun made his head turn. Izuku spun on his heel as Todoroki stalked towards them, aiming a gun at them, cold rage etched onto his face. Mist streamed off of his right side, smoke off the left. “My money’s not in my account,” he ground out. “Which of you did it?”

Izuku winced at the icy, almost psychotic light in his once-friend’s eyes. “‘Kay, Todoroki.” He reached out, slowly, and managed to pull the gun out of the thief’s death-grip. He glanced around at the others. “You guys come here to get paid?”

“Hell, no. Transfer of funds man,” scowled Yakuta. “Global economy.”

“It’s supposed to be a walkaway,” snapped Bakugou. “I’m never supposed to see you guys again.”

Izuku blinked green eyes at them.  _ Never take money from a thief; they’ll rain hell on you.  _ That was something that anyone who dabbled in the con business learned---often the hard way. But another lesson, one that followed right after that, was to tie up loose ends.

And if those loose ends were people… 

_ Double-cross and death. _

“Then the only reason you guys are here is because you didn’t get paid. And you’re pissed off.” A slightly crazy laugh built up in Izuku’s throat; it came bubbling out, earning him three odd looks.  _ That’s fine. That’s fine. So long as they figure it out…  _ “As a matter of fact the only way to get us all in the same place at the same time is to tell us that we’re not. Getting. Paid.” He watched them, waiting for the look of realization.

He wasn’t disappointed. The sudden understanding dawned on them and they all took off, using their Quirks to speed them as much as possible. Izuku called on One-for-All for the first time in years, skidding to a halt in front of the garage door and opening it as quickly as possible, ushering the others out. Yakuta tripped on the stairs, only to be hauled to her feet by a snarling Bakugou. The three of them just barely managed to slip out.

Izuku, however, didn’t. The explosion rocked the building, and as a wall of fire rushed to meet him, he felt his body get thrown backwards and through the door. 

His consciousness slipped away before he hit the ground.


	4. C.4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to con your way out of a hospital seconds before you're ID'd: presented to you by Leverage Consulting & Assoc.

Viridian eyes slid open, and Izuku tensed as soon as the scent of metal and medicine hit him. The green-haired man winced, yanking his hand up only to gasp in pain as steel cut into his wrist. He gazed at his hand in confusion, dread settling in him as he noted the black smudges on his fingertips.

Fingerprinted. Handcuffed. To a hospital bed.  _ Just great. _

“You don’t like hospitals,” Bakugou’s voice cut in smugly. Izuku furrowed his brow, raising his eyes to those of the ash-blond hitter.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But you already knew that. In fact,  _ you _ didn’t like ‘em much either.”

The red-eyed man scowled. “That was a damn long time ago, Deku. That kid--that hero--is dead. Same as you, Mr. Ex-No.1.”

_ He’s right; I don’t have any room to talk.  _ Shame ripped through him like a knife, and the man shook his head with a muttered curse.

“It’s about time!”

He stiffened, blinking, before looking up at the vent. “What?”

In the room next to them, the dual-Quirked thief paced back and forth, having already picked the lock on the handcuffs. Yakuta sat cross-legged on a hospital bed across from Todoroki. “Cops and firemen got there just as we were waking up,” the thief continued.

“Where are we?”

“County hospital,” Yakuta answered. “Local cops, they responded to the explosion.” She lifted her wrist, gesturing for Todoroki to unlock her cuffs, and was ignored, eliciting an angry huff from the hacker.

“We’ve been processed, haven’t we,” Izuku sighed, rubbing at his head with his uncuffed hand.

Bakugou waved ink-covered fingers at him in a sarcastic imitation of a wave. “They faxed our prints to the goddamn state police.”

“If the state runs us, Midoriya, we’re screwed,” Yakuta called. 

She glared at Todoroki, who rolled his eyes. “How long?” the thief demanded.

“Thirty, thirty-five minutes depending on the software,” answered the hacker.

A low growl emanated from Bakugou’s throat. “They printed us twenty fucking minutes ago.” Sharp crimson eyes sliced into Izuku’s green ones. “So unless we get the fuck out of here in the next ten minutes, we all go to jail.”

Izuku shook his head, wincing. “Yeah, alright…uh…”

Bakugou’s eyes slid over the the door. “I can take these bastard cops.”  

“Don’t you dare; you kill anyone and you screw up my getaway,” Todoroki snapped. 

“Hold up,” interrupted Yakuta irritably. “I’m still handcuffed here; I can’t even go to the damn bathroom; I gotta go.”

Izuku shook his head again, but not out of pain. No, he could see the moving parts of the plan they needed---but it would require all four of them to get out. “Todoroki!” he called through the vent. “Get me a phone!”

Bakugou let out another growl. “This was supposed to be a one-time deal.”

The green-haired man shook his head, but he could feel an inexplicable smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “ Look guys, here’s your problem. You all know what  _ you _ can do, I know what  _ all _ of you can do, so that gives  _ me _ the edge, gives  _ me _ the plan.”

There was a pause, silent and lengthy, before Todoroki spoke. “I don’t trust these guys.”

_ As to be expected,  _ he thought with a hint of sadness.  _ Trust was never easy for him, and now that he’s a thief…well, of course he wouldn’t trust them. Or anyone in the game. _

“D’you trust me?”

It was Bakugou who answered. “‘Course, you idiot Deku. You’re  _ his _ protege…and you’re an honest man.”

A wry smile twisted his lips. “Todoroki, phone.”

In the room next door, the thief sighed. “This is gonna suck.” The sounds of retching followed, along with a few disgusted expletives from Yakuta. 

\--

A few moments later, the thief was once again handcuffed to the hospital bed. The doctor removed a thermometer from his mouth, ignoring the baleful glare coming from the scarred Ghost Thief. “Nausea could mean a concussion,” he said thoughtfully. “If you feel any more effects or blurred vision, tell the policeman right away.”

Todoroki nodded reluctantly, his gaze falling to the now-empty pocket of the nurse with a faint smile that anyone else would’ve mistaken for compliance. He kept the smile on his face as the policeman inspected his handcuffs, glaring at his back as he left. The dual-Quirked thief sat up the instant the door closed, sitting cross-legged and facing Yakuta, who grinned. Todoroki held up the commandeered phone with a wry smile, tilting his head as the red-haired hacker waggled her own stolen device.  _ That one’s probably going to be harder to track,  _ he mused,  _ and mine’s got a better camera _ . Yakuta seemed to have reached the same conclusion, tossing her phone towards him as he did the same to her. He caught it in one hand, opening the other to reveal the key, unlocking his cuffs swiftly before glancing at the hacker. Yakuta scowled. “Hey,” she warned. “Hey-- _ thank _ you.”

She snatched the key out of the air, fiddling with the lock as the thief scrambled up towards the vent, kneeling in front of it. “Midoriya!” he hissed, nudged it through the vent. A familiar hand, scarred from their first spar, snatched it up.

In the other room, Izuku grinned at Bakugou, who huffed in irritation. “So the trick is to give ‘em what they want, right?” he said. “They’re expecting a phone call, aren’t they?” He gestured towards the hitter, who rolled his eyes.

“Fine, fucking fine, whatever.”

“Don’t blow it up, Kacchan.”

“I’m a damn professional, ya idiot Deku, I’m not gonna blow up our fucking escape route ‘cause I hate these guys.” The Explosion-user gestured wildly with a hand before dialing the hospital, putting on an affable tone and a fake accent as he asked the nurse to put Deputy Burns on the line. As soon as the policeman’s voice crackled through the line, the hitter grinned savagely and spoke, his cheerful tone at odds with his threatening smile: “This is Detective Lieutenant Carden with the Illinois State Police. We got those prints that you sent us. The problem I have is that they’re sending up red flags all over the place and I’ve got somebody on the ph _ one _ for you from the FBI down there in Washington. Can you hold?”

_ “Y-yes sir,” _ the deputy stammered. Bakugou smiled grimly, tossing the phone to Izuku, who caught it.

In the room next to then, Yakuta grinned at the camera of her stolen phone, taking a selfie. “There we go,” she chirped, quickly sending the fax--- _ dear God _ , she thought,  _ these guys still used faxes _ \---and attaching her picture to a self-crafted FBI template. At that moment, Izuku started speaking again:

“Yeah, Deputy Burns, this is Deputy-Director McCumber, FBI. Is our agent all right?”

_ “Uh...I’m sorry, I don’t follow…” _

“Deputy, the woman you have in there is ours. She’s been in deep cover for three years.”

_ “Seriously?” _

“Correct.” He paused, grinning.  _ Hook, line…  _ “Most of what I’ve told you is...classified. I need to know that I can trust you.”

_ “Yes sir!” _

_ Sinker.  _

Barely ten minutes later, Yakuta was freed of her handcuffs and leading the others into a police car. Izuku snorted under his breath as the smirking hacker “accidentally” hit Bakugou’s head on the doorframe, resulting in an angry growl from the ash-blond. “Get inside,” Yakuta warned, slamming the door shut behind them. Izuku leaned forward, glancing out the window as the redheaded hacker saluted to them, earning two eager salutes back. As she slipped into the driver’s seat, the nurse came out and tapped Deputy Burns on the shoulder.

“There’s an outside call for you,” he heard her say. “State police.” 

In the front seat, Yakuta laughed and floored the gas.

 


	5. C.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins...

“Four first-class tickets to anywhere but here coming up,” Yakuta declared, making a beeline for her computer. Izuku turned on the spot, taking in the loft---it was roomy, with big windows, lots of natural and synthetic light, and a rather open floor plan.

“Whose place is this?” Todoroki inquired, as if puzzled. Izuku huffed a laugh as the hacker turned, grinning.

“It’s mine. Hacker’s gotta use her cash on something other than tech, right?” She waved a hand. “Settle in if ya want, but since you’re gonna be off to the four corners of the earth in a second.” She turned back to her computer, fingers flying as she worked.

Bakugou clenched a fist, leaning against one of the couches. “I’m gonna beat Dubenich so bad that even people who look like that fucker will burn.” An explosion sparked in his palm, this one bigger than the others, as he spoke.

“You won’t get within a hundred yards,” Todoroki commented, a grim smile settling over the thief’s features. “He knows your face. He knows all of our faces.”

The hitter spat and Izuku winced. _Yakuta’s going to hate cleaning that up._ “The son of a bitch fuckin’ tried to kill us!”

“More importantly, he didn’t pay us,” the thief growled.

Bakugou looked about ready to explode. “How the ever-living _fuck_ is that more important?”

Todoroki tilted his head. “I take that personally.”

The Explosion-Quirk user scowled. “There’s somethin’ wrong with you, bastard.”

“Heads up,” Yakuta called, spinning in her chair and revealing the CNN website behind her. Izuku trotted over to her side, peering over her shoulder as she turned around. “Look, Dubenich’s story is 90% true.” She fiddled with something on the computer. “He’s the CEO of Bering Aerospace---big rival of Pierson---but look what my little webcrawlers coughed up.” She pulled up a CNN video, clicking play before sliding away from the screen.

Izuku stepped closer, frowning as Pierson himself appeared on-screen, talking into a mic. _“We’ve lost research that we’ve been working on for over five years. Our servers have been sabotaged, now we’re going to pursue these perpetrators to the full extent of the law and with all the resources we have at our disposal.”_ His blood ran cold as the video ended, and he suppressed a shudder. “Could be a cover story,” he said to the hacker.

“Here’s a log of last night’s rip. Internal timestamps on the project---” she squinted at the monitors---”2303, 2304, they’re way, way down in the code. There’s no reason to fake those.”

_I was afraid of this…_

“So we didn’t steal his fucking plans back?” Bakugou demanded.

Todoroki furrowed his brow. “No, we were just stealing them.”

Yakuta shook her head, light spiking in her crystals. “Why would Dubenich lie to us? We’re criminals---we still would’ve done it.”

 _But you would’ve been wary. You wouldn’t have gone to that warehouse, and you’d have always been looking over your shoulders._ “Cause you’re thieves,” he said, turning to face them. “If he hired you for a straight up crime, you’d know he was a bad guy like you, you’d be suspicious, and his loose ends would still be running around. This way you just saw another citizen in over his head and that’s why you didn’t see the double cross coming.”

“Then why the fuck didn’t you see it coming?” Bakugou snarled, stepping towards him. Izuku met his gaze, trying to ignore the instinctive trepidation in his stomach as he met the murderous red gaze of his former friend.

“Because I’m not a thief.”

The hitter bared his teeth. “Y’know, maybe that was the fuckin’ problem---”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Yakuta interrupted, springing to her feet with a few slips of paper in her hands. “First off, no Quirks in the house aside from mine; this flooring was expensive. Second, I’ve got tickets to Rome, Paris, London, and Sao Paulo---” she passed out the tickets to each of them---”all matching the IDs you gave me.”

Izuku stared at his ticket to Paris, at Yakuta’s wary gaze when he didn’t take it, before spinning on his heel and making his way over to the monitors. Victor Dubenich’s face smiled out from the screen. “You’re running,” he said.

“Yes we fuckin’ are,” Bakugou snarled. “You got a problem with that, you law-upholding holier-than-thou little bastard?”

The green-haired man shook his head, willing them to understand. “No, no---you’re _running_ ; now that was a high-risk play.” His viridian eyes narrowed, a plan already brewing in the deepest, darkest corners of his mind. “You got your balls tied to the stock price like a cinder block,” he murmured, more to Dubenich than to any of the others, “with that shareholder meeting coming up.” He rose to his full height, the familiar thrill of the chase beginning to tingle in his fingers as he met the eyes of the thieves. “We can’t let this guy have any time to cool down.”

Bakugou raised an eyebrow. “You wanna run a game on this bastard. The great Deku, the fucking paragon of virtue, wants to run a game on someone who almost fucking killed us.”

Izuku shrugged. “W-well, yeah. How d’you think I did most of my stealth missions?” He gestured at the screen. “This guy’s greedy, thinks he’s smart; he’s the best kind of mark.”

The Explosion-Quirk user stepped towards him with a low growl. Izuku didn’t flinch, instead smiling at his former friend. “What the fuck is in it for me, then?”

“Payback,” he replied, “and, if it goes right, a lot of money.” Both ash-blond eyebrows arched this time, but the edge of a savage smile played around Bakugou’s lips.

Todoroki stepped towards him. “And what’s in it for me?”

Izuku grinned. “A lot of money. And,” he added, “if it goes right, payback.”

The ghost of a smile touched the thief’s lips. Izuku glanced over at the hacker, who was absentmindedly shredding her ticket. “Yakuta?” he called.

The hacker shook her head, grinning widely. “I was just gonna send a thousand porno magazines to his office; but hell yeah, man, let’s kick him up.”

“What’s in it for you?” Bakugou demanded, glaring at him. Izuku’s smile wavered at that.

_“Mr. Midoriya, how badly do you want to screw the insurance company that let your mom die?”_

He swallowed, shaking his head, pushing the memory of his mother’s wavering, ill form out of his mind. “He used my mom,” he said, as evenly as he possibly could. Bakugou’s eyes widened and his upper lip curled in the beginning of a snarl, one that Izuku knew was not intended for him, but for the bastard that had played them all. Todoroki’s eyes seemed to have iced over, the blue and gray like glittering chips of diamond, and even Yakuta’s fingers twitched as if they wanted nothing more to wrap around Victor Dubenich’s throat.

They knew. Of course they knew; two of them had been his friends once, and the other was a master hacker. But the fact that such unfeeling criminals seemed to feel anger on his behalf… _Maybe they aren’t all bad._

“All right,” he announced, clapping his hands, “let’s go get Uraraka!” The others followed as he left the loft, except for Yakuta.

“What the hell’s an Uraraka?”


	6. C.6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The grifter joins the team at last.

“Come, you spirits who tend on mortal thoughts; unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe topful of direst! Make thick my blood---”

The hacker, thief, and hitter all had various degrees of horror-stricken looks on their faces as they watched the brunette swirl across the stage. Izuku, however, couldn’t stop smiling---the actress’s hair might have grown out and her face grown slightly more angled, she was still the same person he’d known over ten years ago. 

The actress halted in the middle of the stage, starting a new line: “Stop up the access and passage to remorse, that no…” she paused, shaking her crown-adorned head. “That no compunctious visitings of nature…” 

Yakuta shook her head, horrified. “She’s  _ very _ awful.”

“Was she injured when she went missing?” Todoroki hissed. “In the head?”

Bakugou glanced over at him. “Seriously, she’s turned into the worst fucking actress I’ve ever seen.”

Izuku didn’t look away, his eyes on the actress’s warm brown ones. “This is…not her stage.”  _ You’ll see, same as I did two years ago. She’s the best…when the stage is set.  _

Twenty minutes later, the play had ended. Yakuta was miming retching behind his back as she leaned against her black car, Todoroki rolling his eyes as he did the same. Bakugou shook his head, explosions crackling angrily as he glared at the empty alleyway. “No,” the hitter snarled. “I fuckin’ vote no, she’ll blow the whole damn thing---”

“Todoroki’s right,” Izuku muttered back. “Dubenich knows us…and we need a fresh face.” As the actress stepped out, fiddling with her bag, the green-haired ex-hero began to clap, walking towards her. She looked up, and familiar brown eyes widened as a slow smile spread across her face. “I thought you were great,” he called.

Uraraka Ochako laughed, the noise bright and silvery in the Chicago air. “My only fan.” She tilted her head, eyes gleaming. “I’m a citizen now,” she said. “Honest.”

Izuku shoved his hands into his pockets, averting her eyes as a familiar flush of pink started to dust his freckled face. Something about Uraraka always managed to make him feeling like a nervous fourteen-year-old kid. “I’m not.”

When his eyes flickered up to her face, a wide smile had spread across her face. “You’re playing my side?” When he nodded, she laughed again. “I always thought you had it in you.”

“So you’re in?”

Uraraka nodded eagerly. “I wouldn’t miss this.”

_ Perfect.  _ The last piece he’d need to win had fallen into place. The stage was set, the lines drawn, and his band of thieves would rain hell and fire on Victor Dubenich just like they’d planned. Izuku smiled at her, before turning to the others. “Alright!” he declared jovially. “Let’s go break the law just one more time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the shortness of this chapter....


	7. C.7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan begins, and the plot is soon to unfold...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This is in Yakuta's POV]

“Victor Dubenich,” Quinn announced, glaring at the image on her flat-screen TV. They had returned to her loft and were currently using it as a base of operations--which she thought was pretty damn cool, considering that they all mostly hated each other. “Executive vice-president in charge of new technology development over at Bering Aerospace.” She flopped down on the couch next to Todoroki, who shifted away slightly. “Rich daddy, trust fund, Yale MBA…blah blah blah…blah blah blah…”   

“Victor,” Midoriya mused, trotting over to the others. Quinn glanced over her shoulder, eyes flicking up towards the surprisingly open face of the former hero. He was pretty powerful, she knew---she’d seen him use that famed Quirk of his only once, and was shocked by his impossible speed and strength---and one of the best strategists she’d ever seen. The combination was utterly terrifying, but she couldn’t help liking the guy---despite his fearsome intelligence, he was generally optimistic and patient (and he kept her focused, which was a shocker). “Now, when was the last time you met a ‘Victor’?”

“Vietnam,” Bakugou answered, flopping down with a bowl of popcorn. “Town called Banho Zay.” Quinn blinked at him, before smirking slightly, shaking her head. It was pretty fun, mocking the hitter, and her crystal armor was strong enough to defend against his explosions---probably. And as long as this job was going on, she’d be able to make fun of him with no repercussions! It was truly a perfect deal, complete with revenge and the promise of a whole lot of money.

“Chinese border,” Uraraka said, leaning forward to look at the hitter, raising an eyebrow. 

Bakugou gave her an arched look. “That’s an odd thing for you to know.”

“That’s an odd place for you to be.”

Quinn rolled her eyes.  _ Flirt later, you two.  _ She clicked her remote at the TV. “Now, Bering is in charge of a lot of big fat government contracts. Some U.S. Department of Defense research, very top-secret stuff.”

“Can we use that?” Todoroki asked, biting into a piece of popcorn. The redhead glanced at him, a tiny smile working its way onto her face. She’d been infatuated by the thief when they’d first met---a stupid puppy-dog crush, really, there was no possible way that the ex-hero would reciprocate her feelings. The Ghost Thief was notoriously cold, and she’d seen the signs of a psychotic streak in him when they’d been tricked by Dubenich.

“Nah, don’t think so,” she answered. “Dubenich is in charge of their commercial airline business.”

Midoriya leaned over to her. “I know that when we stole the designs, you weren’t supposed to make any copies…”

Yakuta Quinn put on an innocent face. “No, man, I promised. And that would be very wrong.”

His expression didn’t change. “Show me your copies.”

She shook her head with a laugh.  _ This clever bastard…  _ The redhead clicked her remote, pulling up the copies. Blueprints for an airplane appeared onscreen.

“It’s a fucking airplane; big surprise,” grunted Bakugou.

_ Shaddup; I’m the one who stole the damn thing Mr-I’m-So-Powerful-Fear-Me. _

Midoriya’s eyes lit up. “It’s a short alt domestic airliner, yeah, usually one hour flights. It’s the fastest growing segment of the industry, very fuel efficient. High tech. Very nice carbon nose, it’s got the titanium wrap. 3 to 1.” Quinn’s eyes widened as she stared at him, her mouth forming a small “o”; the others appeared to be in varying states of shock as well. He shrugged sheepishly. “You pick up stuff here and there.”

“You pick up a lot of stuff,” Quinn said, her eyes round with surprise. Next to her, Todoroki barked a laugh, and she shot him a pleased smile.  _ So he is human after all.  _ She turned back to the screen, forming a crystal pointer and gesturing at the TV. “Now, check this out; Dubenich and Pierson, they were head to head for five years trying to grab the lead in an industry that’s worth like eleventy-billion dollars.”

“So Pierson got there first,” the dual-Quirked thief next to her murmured, finishing her thought, “and  _ Dubenich--- _ ” he pointed with a piece of popcorn---”took a shortcut.”

“So he’s got a rival,” Midoriya remarked, getting to his feet. “He’s got a rival that pisses him off so much that he hired us to steal his designs. That’s good.”

“What are you thinking, Deku?” Uraraka inquired, smiling slightly.

Quinn suppressed a shudder as normally warm green eyes turned cold and calculating. “I’m thinking Nigerians,” the mastermind decided. “Yeah…Nigerians will do nicely.” The green-haired man pulled out his phone and walked out of the room. Quinn looked at Uraraka in askance, but the grifter only smiled.

“Well,” she said, “he hasn’t changed a bit.”


	8. C.8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan is enacted, and we get a look at some budding friendships...

Izuku and Yakuta watched through the feeds, comms in as the others took their places. The red-haired hacker rubbed a hand over her face tiredly as she pulled up Dubenich’s office. _And so it begins,_ the mastermind mused as the CEO walked into view, smiling slightly as Yakuta muttered dire threats under her breath.

 _“Your nine o’clock is here,”_ the secretary at the desk called. Izuku stifled a laugh as the puzzled Dubenich turned, the feed switching to Uraraka in a chair, her brown eyes gleaming in that frighteningly predatory way that turned up when she ran a con.

 _“Mr. Dubenich. Anna Gunschtot, African Commercial Transport and Trade Initiative,”_ the former hero introduced. Her accent had changed, rolling like velvet and putting the mark on his toes, which was exactly what he wanted.

“Here comes a mountain of suck,” grumbled Yakuta, typing away on her keyboard. Izuku huffed a laugh, instead watching the cameras.

“ _You government?”_ Dubenich asked.

 _“No, no---private business consortium,”_ Uraraka answered, following him into the office. _“We are looking to encourage infrastructure development…”_ She trailed her fingers over the floor-to-ceiling window. _“And economic renewal.”_

Dubenich blinked, looking puzzled. “ _I’m sorry, I have no idea what that means in English. What does it mean?”_

Uraraka gave him a look of amusement. “ _We create jobs and trade in Africa. Keep graft and stealing…”_ She paused and shrugged, still smiling. _“Manageable.”_

Yakuta blinked. “She’s…not awful.”

Izuku smiled. “ _This_ ,” he said, “is her stage. Uraraka Ochako is the finest actress you’ve ever seen…when she’s breaking the law.”

“ _Keep graft and stealing manageable in Africa. Good luck with that, but I don’t think I can help---where are you going?”_

Uraraka arched an eyebrow at Dubenich. “ _Come on; let’s go talk somewhere a little less formal, hm?”_ She trotted out of the office, leaving a bewildered Dubenich following after her.

“Okay…now.” At his order, Yakuta hit a few keys on her keyboard, crashing the computer of the poor receptionist.

 _“Hello, IT,”_ Todoroki chirped to the secretary.

_“Hi, this is Victor Dubenich’s office; my computer just completely crashed.”_

_“I’m sorry to hear that. Have you tried turning it on and off again?”_

“That’s a computer thing,” Yakuta grinned. “I told him to say that.”

The green-haired man shook his head with a faint smile at the pride on the hacker’s face. “Good job.”

When the secretary’s computer refused to cooperate, courtesy of Yakuta, Todoroki’s voice cut in again. _“We have someone on your floor already.”_

Seconds later, a very, very irritated Bakugou appeared in the doorway. _“Someone call IT?”_

“Switch back to Uraraka,” Izuku murmured. Yakuta switched the feed again, showing the grifter and the mark chatting.

 _“I represent a group of investors who are looking to start an airline for short tour flights in Africa,”_ Uraraka was saying when they cut in.

_“Of Johannesburg?”_

“He’s testing you,” Izuku said automatically. “You want Bloemfontein.”

 _“Keep away from the hubs, revitalize regional airports. In South Africa---Bloemfontein, for example. But really, it’s Nigeria that we’re focused on.”_ Uraraka flashed another mesmerizing smile, pulling the mark deeper under her power.

“Perfect,” Izuku whispered.

  _“Most of their airport runways are a mess,”_ Dubenich warned.

_“I believe new airplanes will make people more comfortable while we renew old runways._

_“Uh-huh,”_ the CEO mused. _“I don’t recall saying anything about new airplanes.”_

Uraraka laughed. _“Victor, Victor, Victor. Both you and your chief engineer are scheduled to speak at your shareholder’s meeting.”_

The stunned Dubenich blinked. _“I think you know more about my business than I do.”_

 _“I’ve done my homework,”_ purred Uraraka. _“I find_ you _fascinating.”_

Yakuta blinked as Bakugou guided the secretary through fixing her computer, distracting her from Todoroki stealing the drives and planted bugs in Dubenich’s office. “Shouldn’t _I_ be playing the computer guy?”

“Nah, I need you to actually _be_ the computer guy.”

 _“Uh, sorry,”_ Dubenich’s voice interrupted. _“Is it Gunshot?”_

 _“Gunschtot,”_ Uraraka corrected.

_“I’m sorry, really sorry---”_

_“Anna,”_ the brunette suggested, smiling.

Dubenich hesitated. _“Anna. Anna, thank you. How’s this? If we announce a new product then you can order as many as your little heart desires.”_

Izuku grinned. “You know what to do. Hit him.”

 _“We’d also like to build the planes. Build them in Africa, fly them in Africa, sell the rest around the world,"_ the grifter said airily.

_“Well, that’s very ambitious. Do you have the manufacturing facilities to do all of that?"_

The brunette waved off the idea. “ _We can easily raise the funds to build the facilities--if,”_ she added, _“we know for certain that we’re going to get the contracts.”_

“That’s it," the mastermind grinned.

_“Anna, I’m really sorry, but I can’t help you.”_

Yakuta let out a disappointed sigh, glancing over at him. “Look, it was a nice try, man…”

Izuku merely smiled. “Wait for it.”

 _“I understand,”_ Uraraka murmured.

_“And I do have to go back…”_

Uraraka spun towards Dubenich, her eyes blazing. _“I’ll take it to Pierson.”_

Yakuta raised an eyebrow, glancing up at him. The mastermind grinned in response.

 _“Pierson?”_ Dubenich sounded distinctly uncomfortable. _“Uh…sure. Go ahead. I don’t think they can help you, but---”_

 _“Oh, they have a reputation for long-term investments!”_ she exclaimed. _“You don’t. They’re innovators. Yeah, it’s probably a better fit.”_

The shorter man went red in the face. “ _know---I’m well aware that you’re manipulating me, Anna.”_

 _“I should hope so!”_ the grifter hummed. The hacker and mastermind watched as she stalked closer to the mark, her eyes gleaming. _“Millions of dollars in new contracts…a lot of good press…all at your door.”_

The mark huffed a laugh. _“Okay, fine. I give up; I’ll take the meeting.”_ He stuck out his hand for her to shake, but she’d already spun on her heel, walking away with a cool smile.

 _“I’ll have my office call you,”_ she called over her shoulder. _“Day after tomorrow?”_

_“Uh, sure. Look forward to doing business with you?”_

But she was already gone. Uraraka’s voice, free of any accents, came in through the comms. _“He’s on the hook.”_

Yakuta whooped, throwing her hands up in the air in delight before whirling to him for a high-five. Izuku laughed, granting her the gesture as the others started complaining about the noise.

\--

Night fell quickly on the city of Chicago. Izuku frowned down at Yakuta’s pool table, glancing out the window for a moment before picking up the cue and maneuvering the ball into place. It was odd, he thought absently, how at home he felt in a house full of notorious criminals. Yakuta’s keyboard clicking, the soft ruffle of Todoroki climbing through the ventilation, Bakugou doing…whatever the hell he was doing in the kitchen, all of these things had become comforting background noises.

And that worried him.

“Yo, Midoriya,” called Yakuta, spinning towards him in her swivel chair. “I got all his financials off his hard drives, and all his passwords.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

The ash-blond hitter padded towards him not a second later, holding a beer in one hand. “Your shot,” he informed him in response to the confused look---without any cursing, surprisingly enough.

Izuku stared at the tantalizing amber liquid and felt mildly sickened---by himself, by what he was doing, and who had become. “No thanks.” He picked up the pool cue again. “Five corner.”

“You look a helluva lot better,” Bakugou commented, leaning against the pool table. “Than when we started this fucking insanity, I mean.”

Izuku winced. “Yeah.”

His once-friend’s scarlet eyes were knowing. “And that bothers you a whole fucking lot, doesn’t it.”

 _Let no one say that Bakugou Katsuki is not perceptive,_ Izuku thought wryly. “Yeah,” he repeated softly. “I mean, this isn’t supposed to feel---”

“Good?” The blond shook his head. “It’s not that fuckin’ hard to figure out. Dubenich screwed you. He cheated by stealing from that other piece-of-shit company and your fuckin’ obsessive hero brain sees him as the goddamn bad guy. Your conscience is clear.”

 _Back away, Kacchan; you don’t want to get into what my conscience sees._ “You going to take your shot?”

The hitter’s red eyes softened ever so slightly, looking like steel rather than titanium. “I’m sorry about your mom, Deku.”

“You don’t know anything about that.” The words came out tight, strained, angry.

“ _Everybody_ fuckin’ knows,” Bakugou argued. “The fucking number one Hero suddenly goes off into the streets, a whole fucking bunch of people know.” He hesitated. “I’ve only heard a bunch of shitty rumors, but it was a bad story. How the hell did they fucking justify that, hm? The insurance company just...not paying for her treatment?”

Izuku raised a hand, One-for-All crackling to life in his anger, before exhaling sharply and releasing his Quirk, letting his hand rest lightly on the table. “They claimed it was experimental.”

A rare smile appeared on his childhood friend’s face, worn-out and weary. “Shoulda kept one of those fuckin’ Monets you recovered, huh?”

Fury suddenly bubbled up the mastermind, sharp as broken glass and as choking as a slime monster from over ten years ago. “Kacchan,” he snapped out, “you and I are not _friends_. You made sure of that a damn long time ago, and if you expect that to change now---”

The hitter was already holding up his hands, conceding the point---something new from him. _Maybe he_ has _matured._ “Not friends,” he said. “Right. ‘Cause you have so many of them.” He raised the beer, pointing over Izuku’s shoulder before walking off. “Incoming, Deku.”

Izuku turned, green eyes widening as Uraraka trotted up to him. “Hey, can you help me with this earpiece?”

He flushed, glancing away. “U-um, y-you should really ask Yakuta…”

She clicked her tongue impatiently. “Come on, Deku. Please?” She dropped the comm into his hand, and his hand closed around it instinctively, fitting the delicate piece into her ear. She brushed her hair over her ear, concealing it, and smiled at him. “Thanks,” she breathed. “So...this time you really are inside my head.”

He jerked his head up in shock, meeting her eyes--but see was already walking away. Yakuta, however, lurker that she was, had seen the entire exchange. The hacker rolled past him in her swivel chair, eyebrows arched and a smug grin on her face. “Ohoho,” she said. “Ohhhhhhh. Mm.”

She slid away before he could protest, humming what he was certain was “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” under her breath as she did.


	9. C.9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The winds of cons are blowing! The Nigerian Job continues.

The day passed quickly--almost too quickly. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the building across the street, mentally cursing as Dubenich’s car pulled up next to the office building they planned on commandeering. “Uraraka, he’s on-site.”

_ “What?”  _ The Zero-Gravity Quirk user sounded panicked.  _ “No, I’m not ready!” _

Yakuta’s fingers clicked over the keys, the redhead scowling at the screen. “The car’s not electric; I can’t shut down anything from here. If I had access to EMP---”

“But you don’t,” Izuku mutter grimly. “Uraraka, if you don’t meet him right now, he’ll go to the building directory; guys, we  _ are not in _ the building directory.”

_ “And why the fuck aren’t we in the building directory?”  _ Bakugou snarled.

Yakuta rolled her brown eyes. “I don’t know; maybe because they’re  _ fake offices?” _

Izuku winced as the sound of frantic button-pressing filled his ears, the ding of the elevator following. His green eyes followed Dubenich, watching as the shorter man halted in front of the office building, glancing at his watch. 

_ “No elevator!”  _ Uraraka yelped.

The mastermind stifled a sigh.  _ I had a feeling this would happen…  _ “Alright, I’ll stall him. Todoroki, you’ve got ten seconds to get Uraraka to the lobby.”

_ “What? I can just use my Quirk, it’s fine---” _

“Our Quirks are too recognizable,” he argued. “We’ve had our faces plastered all over the news for a decade; we can’t risk you being recognized as Uravity.”

_ “Uraraka!”  _ the thief’s voice hissed through the comm. The green-haired man got to his feet, carefully removing a retractable baton from the inside of his coat as he headed towards the building.

_ My apologies to whoever owns these cars,  _ he thought grimly, and bashed the windshield of one in. The alarm went off, making Dubenich halt and look up in confusion.  _ Good, it’s working.  _ He smashed the windows of two more cars, setting off more alarms. A crowd of people started to gather around the doors, distracting the mark for a few moments more.

Screaming filled the comm, and he smiled grimly, ducking back out of sight.  _ “You okay, Uraraka?” _

_ “A little warning would’ve been nice!”  _

A more genuine smile slipped onto his face. “Got it.” He returned to his seat, casting a sideways glance at Yakuta, who was working on foiling Dubenich’s search. “Alright, he’s---”

_ “Our offices are on the tenth floor,”  _ she interrupted, slipping back into the character of Anna Gunschtot. 

_ “Oh, _ ” the CEO replied, sounding surprised. “ _ You, uh…you have a glow.” _

_ “Just…excited.” _

“Can you get a view of the offices?” he muttered to Yakuta, who grinned.

“Can the world’s best hacker crack a few simple cameras, he asks,” she muttered, pulling up the feeds. “I hacked into the Pentagon at fifteen, and still he doubts me.”

“Really?”

“Nah, I was fourteen.” She flapped a hand at him impatiently. “Here.  _ Voila _ .”

_ “One more thing,”  _ the grifter murmured to Dubenich.  _ “The gentlemen bringing you this opportunity to work with their government…they’ll, um, expect some, um, compensation. Not a bribe of course…” _

_ “A finder’s fee,”  _ the mark agreed.

_ “Exactly.” _

_ “I thought your job was to eliminate graft and stealing,”  _ the Bering Aerospace CEO said, sounding puzzled. Izuku cracked a smile at the wicked grin on Uraraka’s face.

_ “You must’ve misheard me, Mr. Dubenich---my job is to keep it manageable.”  _

The two watched the feeds as Bakugou slipped away from nailing a sign next to the commandeered offices, the grifter and the mark entering a few seconds later. A tall Nigerian man stood across from them, dark eyes thoughtful. He rose to his feet, his voice coming out staticky through the feeds.  _ “Good afternoon, Mr. Dubenich,” _ he greeted.  _ “We are honored by your presence.” _

_ “No, no, the honor is entirely mine. Getting in on the ground floor of something like this is a wonderful opportunity.” _

Boots thudded on the ground, and hacker and mastermind looked up to see the thief jogging towards them, heterochromatic eyes gleaming. “Nice job on the zipline,” Izuku commented.

Todoroki slipped into the seat across from Yakuta’s, drumming his fingers on the table absently as he glanced up at the building. “Yeah, not bad for her first time. I thought she was gonna break a leg.”

_ “So what do you think?”  _ they heard Dubenich ask. Yakuta grinned and Todoroki cracked a rare smile, glancing sideways at Izuku.

He found himself smiling back. “She’s closing it up.”

_ “Yes, absolutely. We can definitely repurpose those factories,”  _ the official exclaimed.

_ “Great,”  _ the mark replied. 

_ “I believe we’ll be able to do a lot of business together,”  _ the Nigerian man continued.

_ “And about the…the other matter,” _ Uraraka put in smoothly.

_ “Of course.”  _ They watched as Uraraka rose to her feet and stalked towards the other end of the table, taking an envelope from him before passing it to Dubenich. Izuku smiled, knowing exactly what figure was on it. 

_ $1,000,000. _

_ “Is it agreeable?”  _ Uraraka inquired innocently.

They watched as Dubenich smiled.  _ “Oh, I think we can work something out…” _

_ “Excellent.” _

Twenty minutes later, the five of them had convened by Yakuta’s table. The hacker slammed her laptop shut, a wide smile on her crystal-studded face. Izuku glanced at Uraraka as they started walking. “We’ve got him?”

“We own him,” grinned the grifter.

A genuine smile crossed his face, and he turned to face his ragtag band of heroes---thieves, he had to remind himself.  _ Thieves.  _ “‘Kay, gang,” he chirped, “let’s go. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Uraraka asked.

“I guarantee it.”

\-- _ In Dubenich’s Office-- _

Bering Aerospace’s lead engineer followed the CEO inside, babbling nervously. “Sir, this is insane! We’re risking everything---”

Dubenich flapped an impatient hand at him, gesturing for silence before crouching by his desk. The engineer followed, still talking. “We already took a chance by---”

“Shhh!” Dubenich hissed, eyeing something blinking under his desk. His engineer’s eyes grew round.

“W-what is---”

The CEO huffed irritably and pulled him to his feet, leading him out of the inner office. “It’s a transmitter,” he explained, “and they’ve been listening to every word I’ve been saying.”

“Who are ‘they’?”

The shorter man chuckled dryly, taking a picture out of his suit jacket. “Who do you think?” His eyes narrowed, face tight with anger as he scowled at the image of Midoriya Izuku and Anna Gunschtot---who, he had learned, was actually named Uraraka Ochako---speaking in an alley. His eyes were cold. “Also, I’ve checked, there’s no office for the African Commercial Trade Initiative anywhere in the city. They’ve been hustling me and I know  _ exactly _ what they’re doing. Tomorrow, it stops. Get the FBI on the phone.”


	10. C.10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The con comes together....and we see Dubenich's fall from his own point of view.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” the engineer worried as they walked outside of the building, waiting for the final few shareholders to trickle in. Dubenich squinted at him---he could never remember his name---before shrugging it off with a huff.

“Yeah, they’re pissed, I get that. They want to make me pay.” He shook his head with a cruel grin. “I mean, an opportunity like this, the same week as the Shareholder’s Meeting? The bug, the fake offices, cash bribes---Nigerians for god’s sake! _Nigerians!_ I mean, it’s like those email scams with Nigerian bank fraud letters.” His voice rose, growing angry. “Who the _hell_ do they think I am? Some--some _dog_ they can just lead around? They’re going to find out _exactly_ how wrong they are.” He jabbed the engineer in the chest, before whirling towards the entrance again.

_Any time now, “Anna Gunschtot”._

\---

It wasn’t until after the conference that “Anna” and the Nigerians appeared. The woman had slipped up to him unnoticed while he was talking to his shareholders, and when he turned, she was there. He jumped slightly when he saw her.

_I’m going to be so glad when you’re in jail._

“Well,” she purred, “aren’t you the cat who ate the canary?”

 _More so than you think,_ grifter _._ “Does it show?” he asked.

The brunette rolled her eyes. “Horrible poker-face.”

He grinned. “Guilty.” He glanced at the Nigerians, then lowered his voice. “Why don’t we get this done?”

Her eyes widened, and he reveled in the flicker of quickly-masked apprehension on her face. “Now?”

“Yeah.”

“You have the whole payment?”

 _Not at all._ “Absolutely,” he said aloud. “I think we should make the deal. I want to make the announcement, get even bigger headlines. I’ll take them into a conference room away from all this.” He waved the shocked-looking woman away. “Go, go, go, let’s do it.”

Five minutes later, he was leading the Nigerians and the grifter into his office, a small smile playing around his lips. “Gentlemen,” he said, “now everybody come in, relax, make yourselves comfortable.”

“Thank you,” the lead “official” said, his voice remarkably poised as he took a seat at the opposite end of the table. “I assume we understand the… _terms_ , of this agreement.”

The CEO’s smile turned sharp and cruel. “Oh yes,” he said. “The exact terms of this agreement…are these.” He pressed a buzzer, and about ten seconds after it sounded, people i familiar blue-and-yellow windbreakers burst in.

“FBI, don’t move,” one of the agents commanded. A dark-skinned agent turned towards them, eyes wary. “Sir, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m…” The short man’s voice trailed off as two agents grabbed his arms. His brow furrowed. “What? What are you …? Wait a minute, wait a minute, let go of me, _please_ .” He managed to yank his arms free of their powerful hold. “What are you looking at _me_ for; the criminals are sitting right over there! Look at them.” He gave them a puzzled glare. “Listen, I spoke to Special Agent Higgins, if you call him on the phone---”

“I’m Special Agent Higgins,” the dark-skinned man snapped, brandishing a badge. “Victor Dubenich, you are under arrest for soliciting a bribe from these Nigerian Government officials.”

His eyes widened. “Sol---I’m not---I’m not soliciting!” He gestured wildly at the Nigerians. “These---these aren’t even Nigerians!”

“Of course we are!” the Nigerian man snapped, pulling out an I.D. and passport.

Dubenich blanched. “No, no, no…”

“Your woman knew that when she contacted us!” the man flared.

Any remaining color drained out of Dubenich’s face. “My…my woman?” He looked around wildly. “Anna?”

No “Anna Gunschtot”. No Uraraka Ochako. No women in sight at all. He raised his hands nervously. “Um, Special Agent Higgins, Anna Gunschtot works for _them_.”

“Ridiculous!” the man spat. “She contacted us on our behalf.

“She told us she worked directly under you!” one of the others added.

\--- _Flashback---_

“Anna Gunschtot, from Bering Aerospace,” Uraraka purred, shaking hands with the Nigerians. “Directly under Victor Dubenich.”

\--- _End---_

“But…” Dubenich started weakly. “B-but she took me to their office…”

“No, we do _not_ have an office in this city,” the leader of the government officials snapped. Dubenich leapt on this scrap of hope, seizing it wildly.

“A-ha! Exactly---”

“She took us to your other office!”

_\---Flashback---_

Bakugou put up a sign that read: “Bering Consulting. Victor Dubenich”. Uraraka shook hands with the Nigerian, smiling. “Anna Gunschtot, from Bering Aerospace.”

_\---End---_

Dubenich opened his mouth to protest, then too a horrified step back. “The shareholders,” he breathed. “The shareholders!” He raced out of the room, ignoring the protests of the Nigerians and the FBI, surging back into the crowd. A groan escaped his mouth as police cars pulled up, sirens wailing. Dozens of FBI agents jumped out of cars, darting towards the office.

“What in God’s name…” one of his oldest shareholders, Tom Bailey, muttered.

“No, no, no,” Dubenich whispered again, before making his way into the crowd. “Uh, everybody, could I have your attention? It’s just---it’s just a permit problem---”

“Victor, what’s going on?” Bailey demanded.

“I can explain---”

“Anyone else here involved in bribe?” Higgins demanded, pushing past him.

“Bribe?” Bailey repeated, sounding outraged.

“There’s no bribe,” Dubenich began desperately, only to freeze as the Nigerian pushed forwards.

“I handed this man an envelope containing a cashier’s check for 200,000 USD!” he spat.

 _What?_ “No. No, no. Nobody-- I wasn’t handed any…”

_\---Flashback---_

Uraraka walked to the end of the conference table and took the envelope from the Nigerian. She quickly switched out with one hidden beneath her blazer it before handing a different envelope to Dubenich.

_\---End---_

“I didn’t,” he whispered, horrified. “I wasn’t handed…”

“This would look a lot better for you if you did not deposit that check,” Higgins interrupted sharply. “Do you still have it?”

“I--didn’t--get--a--check!” he snapped through his sudden anger.

A second agent popped up next to Higgins. “Sir, we got people searching the lab, seizing the files and computers.”

“Good job,” the Special Agent approved, turning to walk away. Dubenich blanched again. _My computer--my files…_

“Higgins! Higgins you can’t do that!” he yelped. “You can’t take my computer!”

Higgins turned towards him, expression incredulous. “This company has government defense contracts. There are very serious rules regarding contact with foreign nationals. The Patriot Act applies here my friend. Sir, I can take your underpants.” He looked him up and down, and expression of disgust on his face, before disappearing into the crowd.

Dubenich winced. “O-okay, that’s getting a little aggressive…” He turned towards Bailey. “I’m sorry, Bobatumbai, this is Tom Bailey. These gentlemen are from Nigeria. Everybody just take it easy, relax, I’ll be back and explain everything.” He slipped away into the crowd, hoping desperately that his assistants were doing their jobs.

_I underestimated them._

 


	11. C.11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mark has fallen, the team splits...and then they don't

Izuku’s footsteps resounded in the empty, unfinished office, and the ex-hero nodded to Pierson as he made his way over to the windows. Dubenich’s rival glanced at him without nodding back. “I came alone.”

“Yes, I realized. Thanks for that, Mr. Pierson.” He halted next to him. “Now, I understand your research was completely wiped out. I have full copies here on these hard drives along with absolute proof they were on Bering Aerospace computers; now, that should be good for a couple of lawsuits, right?”

“I drop the investigation on all parties involved,” countered the CEO.

Izuku smiled. “Seems fair. You get your property back.” He held out the case.

Pierson took the proffered suitcase, dropping his arm to his side. “Agreed. No charges. Nothing on you, or your people.”

_ My people.  _ The words resonated within the ex-hero, causing his smile to widen. He dipped his head respectfully before turning away, heading back towards the elevator.

“Don’t you want money?” Pierson called curiously.

Izuku grinned, never looking back. “This particular line of work has a…different revenue stream.

\--

The green-haired man held the phone to his ear, a wry smile on his face as he waited for the man on the other end to pick up.  _ I told you we’d rain hell on you. How did that double-cross work out for you, Dubenich? _

_ “Yeah?”  _

Izuku laughed. “Yeah, you shoulda just paid us.”

There was a rustle as Dubenich sat up straighter, and he could picture the short man’s eyes bugging out.  _ “I…I found the transmitter,”  _ the disgraced CEO whispered, sounding incredulous. 

_ As if it’s so shocking that anyone could take him down.  _ The ex-hero rolled his eyes.  _ That was...incredibly satisfying.  _ “Oh, you found the transmitter with the blinking light. Yeah, we wanted you to figure some of it out.” He shrugged, walking along the raised platform. “Then we just gave you what you were expecting.”

There was a low snarl from the CEO.  _ “I am Victor Dubenich. I am going to beat this.” _

Izuku tilted his head, voice innocent. “Aren’t you forgetting about the bribe?”

_ “Who cares? You can’t prove anything, I didn’t get any money---” _

_ “Bingo,”  _ someone on the other end said, and the mastermind grinned as he pictured the blood draining out of the man’s face.

“Yeah, it doesn’t account for all of it. Uraraka kept some to buy a truly impressive  number of equipment for her family’s business.” He paused, glancing over the side of the hill at the rest of his team. Quinn, Shouto, and Katsuki appeared to be locked in an argument, and Ochako caught his eye with a grin that matched his own plastered over her face. “See, if a company’s stock falls ten, fifteen percent in one day, you sell short and make a lot of money. If it’s going to fall thirty percent, you can make  _ shattering _ amounts of money.” He gazed down at his scarred hand. “We didn’t need the FBI to show up and take you to prison. We just needed them to show up and take boxes out of your office, all day long in front of TV cameras, scaring your investors. You going to jail is just a bonus.” 

His smile grew wider, more unsettling, as he reached the others. “Oh…and I wouldn’t say anything about us to the feds.” Izuku’s voice turned deadly serious. “Next time, we won’t be so nice.”

He hung up before Dubenich could answer, joining the small circle of thieves in the park’s center. Quinn grinned, passing envelopes to each of them. Izuku nodded to them as he opened it. “Job well done--- _ woah _ .”

The check inside was good for over thirty-two million. He heard Ochako gasp in shock as if from a great distance, and looked up to see a smug look on Quinn’s face. “There was an overlap in the London stock market. Valuation carried over to NASDAQ and…” her voice trailed off and she shook her head, a wide smile on her face. “ I’m just very good at what I do.”

“This is  _ the _ score,” Shouto breathed, a strange light in the thief’s eyes. “ _ The _ score.”

The red-haired hacker flashed a peace sign, chuckling. “Age of the geek, baby.”

“Somebody kiss Red so I don’t fuckin’ have to,” Katsuki grinned, punching her in the shoulder. The hacker yelped, staggering backward a step in response, before shaking her head.

“So…” she glanced around at the others. “So we’re out. This is retirement money. This---this is go legit and buy an  _ island _ money.”

Izuku read the expressions on their faces, the reluctance to leave warring with the preparation to flee, and his heart sank.  _ Of course they haven’t changed,  _ he thought.  _ They’re thieves. I’m not. _

_ And thieves can’t trust anyone. _

“Right,” he said, “pleasure working with you.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki muttered, the light in his eyes hardening. “One show only. No fucking encores.”

“I already forgot your names,” Shouto insulted, but it sounded more like the stoic thief was trying to convince himself rather than the others.

For a long moment, they looked at each other, drinking in the fact that they’d clicked together so easily, fit together so perfectly---and then they all turned, walking off in different directions. Izuku hurried along the sidewalk, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest.  _ Back to being another face in a hotel lobby,  _ he thought, and tried to shake off the reluctance.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps matched his, and he glanced sideways to see Quinn, her bright brown eyes eager. “You know, I’ve never had that cool a time on a job.”

“It’s a walkaway,” he reminded her, glancing away uncomfortably.

“And I’ve got focus issues, Izuku, you kept me right on.” She snapped to demonstrate her point, and Izuku found that he didn’t mind her use of his first name.

Shouto joined him on the opposite side. “I’m really good at one thing---”

“Sh--- _ Todoroki _ .”

“---only one thing, and that’s it. And I can’t stop doing my one thing, I can’t retire---”

“You wanna know what I think?” Katsuki interrupted, joining the others.

“Not really.”

“Real fucking heroic of you, Deku. Anyway, how fucking long until you fall apart again?”

“Oh, I’m touched.”

“A bastard like you can’t be outta the game. That was why you were a fucking wreck, you need the damn chase---”

“I’ll manage,” he grumbled, picking up his phone as it rang. “Hello?”

There was a click, and he looked up to see Ochako sitting on a bench. He huffed a sigh as the grifter rose to her feet, walking over to him. “You pick the jobs,” she said, “the marks.”

Izuku glanced away uncomfortably. “My job is--was--helping people. I find the bad guys.”

“It was ours, too,” she answered softly. “D’you really think we’ve forgotten, Deku?” She glanced at the others. “But bad guys have money.” Clear brown eyes met emerald green. “Black King,” she said. “White Knight.”

\--- _ In the Thomas Residence--- _

An older woman sat on the couch, sobbing quietly, her husband murmuring soft assurances. “I-I’m sorry---”

“No, no,” the husband reassured her gently. Uraraka Ochako reached out to them, her gaze sympathetic.

“Take your time,” she murmured.

“She---” the mother gulped. “She was seventeen.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Ochako’s eyes were gentle. “I know.”

The woman shook her head. “They killed her,” she whispered. “They said it was experimental---but that company  _ killed _ her.” She looked up at them, absolute hatred in her eyes. “I want them  _ hurt _ .”

The father’s worried eyes flickered up towards the team. Ochako was seated in a chair inches away from them, with Todoroki Shouto perched on the arm of the chair next to her. Yakuta Quinn leaned against a cabinet, next to Bakugou Katsuki, whose red eyes were sharp with anger. “W-we can’t pay you.”

Ochako smiled. “We work on an…alternative revenue stream.”

The man shook his head. “I don’t understand. The judge said that we couldn’t appeal.” His eyes slid over the the man seated next to Ochako, taking in his wild green hair, open freckled face, and calculating green eyes. “What are you gonna do?”

Midoriya Izuku didn’t move, didn’t flinch, didn’t shift or smile. “ People like that…corporations like that, they have all the money they have all the power and they use it to make people like  _ you _ go away. Right now you’re suffering under an  _ enormous _ weight. We provide…” He tilted his head, and the ghost of a smile crossed his face. “Leverage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The use of their first names at the end symbolizes the fact that they've started to trust each other, if you didn't already get that :3


	12. A/N

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let you know that  _We Provide Leverage: Trial_ is officially out! Consider  _Origins_ the prequel, with  _Trial_ the first book in a series of five. I plan to take select jobs from season 1, adapt them to the world of Quirks, heroes, and the BNHA version of Leverage crew, and unleash them on the world. Here's the lineup for the series:

 _Trial_ [covers season 1]

 _Error_ [covers season 2]

 _Opportunity_ [covers season 3]

 _Rise_ [covers season 4]

 _Ashes_ [covers season 5]


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